Morocco

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Morocco

• Jane Granville

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Moroccan Mint Tea

• Moroccan mint tea is the national drink of
  Morocco. It is served all day long, as a sign of
  hospitality.
• The Allemane (Germans) did drink tea sometimes,
  though, just like everyone else, but even their
  tea was bitter and scalding and not at all like
  ours, which was always perfumed with mint or even
  absinthe or myrtle. Cousin Zin, who had visited
  England, said that the tea up there was so
  bitter, they mixed it with milk. So Samir and I
  poured some milk in our mint tea once, just to
  give it a try, and it was ugh! Awful! No wonder
  the Christians were always miserable and looking
  for fights (Mernissi 93).

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History of Morocco

• The group known as the Berbers have lived in
  Morocco for hundreds of thousands of years. They
  consist of three tribes Sanhaja, Masmoda, and
  Zenata. The Phoenicians came in around 1200 BC.
• During the 7th century AD, the Arabs came across
  North Africa to spread Islam, and settled in
  Morocco. The first invasions took place under
  Oqba Ben Nafi, who settled the city of Kairwan
  and built the first mosque in North Africa. The
  city of Fez was settled in 818. Its population
  mainly consisted of Arabs forced out by the
  Christians in Spain.
• Other invading groups that settled in Morocco
  included the Saadians and Alaouites, both tribes
  that descended from Muhammad, Carthaginians,
  Romans, Almohades, and Merinides.
• In 1906, at the Conference of Algeciras, a group
  of thirty countries declared Tangier an
  international free port, and put Morocco under
  French rule. By March of 1956, the French signed
  an agreement that gave Morocco its independence
  and Tangier lost its international status.
  Moroccan officials replaced the French in running
  the government.
• Morocco recognized the United States in 1777, and
  the two countries have maintained diplomatic
  relations since 1787 with a Treaty of Peace and
  Friendship. This treaty was renegotiated in
  1836, and remains the longest unbroken treaty in
  American history.

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Morocco during World War II

• During WWII, British and American Allied soldiers
  were stationed in Morocco. Despite pressure from
  the Vichy Government in France, the sultan of
  Morocco refused to approve anti-Jewish
  legislation.
• Both the occupation and radio programs introduced
  Western culture that Moroccans had previously
  been unaware of.
• Allied and Axis propaganda radio began
  influencing the Moroccan independence movement,
  and the nationalists formed a new party, Hizb
  al-Istiqlal. A request from the Sultan and the
  nationalists in Morocco for independence in 1944
  resulted in many leaders being arrested for
  collaborating with Nazis. Rioting in Fez
  resulted in 30 people being killed. The
  Nationalist movement grew until Moroccos
  independence in 1956.

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Islam in Morocco

• 99.99 of Moroccans are Muslim, with only 4,000
  Jews and less than 1,000 Christians living there.
• Most Moroccan Muslims are Sunni Muslims.
• The King of Morocco (currently Mohammed VI) is
  both the Head of State and the religious and
  spiritual leader of the country.
• It is against Moroccan law to convert from Islam
  to another religion.
• Arabic is the official language of Morocco, but
  there are several Berber dialects, and French is
  used in business, government, and diplomacy.
• Many laws in Morocco are based on the Islamic
  religion. For example, polygamy is legal. When
  it was challenged in 1992 by a womens rights
  group, the government said that the law was
  sharia, a religious law, and issued a fatwa, a
  religious decree, calling for the women's
  execution as heretics.

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Harems and Homes

• Harems, though now almost completely obsolete,
  were very common 60 years ago.
• Urban Moroccan homes, called riads, were built
  around a central courtyard in the medina, or the
  original Arab part of a Moroccan town.
• Harems in Morocco typically consisted of a riad,
  with many walls and gates preventing women from
  leaving, or country compounds on farms that allow
  habitants to wander freely.
• Harem refers both to the building, and the
  people. Within a harem can be a man and his
  wives and children one extended family with
  aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents or a
  combination of the two.

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Works Cited

• Andrews, Barbara McClatchie. Mirror to a
  Culture A Bustling Market in Marrakech,
  Morocco. World I Apr. 2002 204. Academic
  Search Premier. EBSCO. 30 May 2006
  lthttp//search.epnet.com/gt.
• Background Note Morocco. Department of State
  Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. July 2005. 6
  June 2006 lthttp//www.state.gov/?r/?pa/?ei/?bgn/?
  5431.htmgt.
• History of Morocco. Ministry of Communications
  of the Kingdom of Morocco. 6 June 2006
  lthttp//www.mincom.gov.ma/?english/?generalities/
  ?history/?history.htmlgt.
• Mernissi, Fatima. Dreams of Trespass Tales of a
  Harem Girlhood. N.p. Addison- Wesley Publishing
  Company, 1994.
• Moroccan Mint Tea. Recipe Zaar. 6 June 2006
  lthttp//www.recipezaar.com/?55799gt.
• Morocco. Culture Grams 2004 World Edition
  Cultural Reports for Africa. Lindon, Utah Axiom
  Press, 2004. 105-110.
• Morocco World War Two and Independence.
  Encyclopedia Britannica. 6 June 2006
  lthttp//www.britannica.com/?eb/?article-214380gt.